Prisons join the qualifiers to quarterfinals of African Club champs

25 April 2012

Day 5

Tunisia, April 25, 2012 – Prisons club of Kenya became the last qualifier to the quarterfinal of the 2012 Men’s African Club Championship after they took over Force Terrestre (Congo RD) in straight sets 25-18, 25-16, 25-13 in the fifth and last day of the preliminary round here in Sousse, Tunisia on Wednesday to join defending champions Al Ahly, compatriots Zamalek and Guish, hosts Etoile du Sahel, Esperance from Tunisia, and the two Algerian teams Bejaia and Bourj Bou Arririj which already progressed earlier.

The quarterfinal matches will be resumed on Friday after a rest day on Thursday where Borj Bouaririj lines up against Guish, Bejaia plays Etoile du Sahel, Ahly faces Prisons and Zamalek meets Esperance. The winners will earn semifinal slot.

Friday will show also the play offs for ranking positions 9 to 20.

The last day of the preliminary round featured a crucial victory for Bejaia (ALG) over El Guish (EGY) 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 27-25, 26-24) in a match determining the top of Pool D.

Ahly and Zamalek continued their winning rhythm as they defeated GSU (KEN) and Omni Sport (CIV) respectively in straight sets to lead Pool B and C.

Ahly lead the 21 participating teams in the number of wins (5 consecutive matches) and still with the Zamalek the only two teams who didn’t drop a set.

Pool A

Borj Bouaririj of Algeria fought hardly for 97 minutes to pull off a difficult victory against the highly organized Sun Shine team (NGR) 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 32-30, 25-21). The highly motivated Nigerians made the victory very difficult for the Algerians who end the first round on top of pool A with a win loss ratio of 4-0 and qualified to the top eight draw. Sunshine dropped to 1-3 to finish fourth and play for 9 to 16 positions.

Ahly Ben Ghazi (LBY) end their group matches with a valuable victory over the struggling AS Voara (MAD) 3-1 (25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19). The victory made the Libyan team to finish third with a win- loss ratio of 2-2 to play for the 9 to 16 standings, while Voara finished at the bottom of the pool with 0-4 record

Pool B

Al Ahly of Egypt made it 5 victories out of five matches after they overpowered GSU (Kenya) in straight sets. Ahly finished with the full record 5-0, while GSU became 3-2 at the third position to play for the 9 to 16 positions.

The already qualified Esperance of Tunisia set their fourth victory over Rwanda’s APR 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-16). The victory improved their win- loss ratio to 4-1 to finish at the second position, while APR dropped to 2-3 to finish fourth.

Inter Club (Congo Brazzaville) ended their Pool B campaign with their first win against Agosto (ANG) 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-17) to finish at the fifth position with 4-1 record, while Agosto ends at the bottom of the pool with 0-5

Pool C

The last competition runner up Prisons of Kenya overcame Force Terrestre (Congo RD) 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-13) in their last match to clinch the last ticket to the quarterfinal as second of pool C as they improved to 3-1 to come behind Zamalek the leader of the pool. Terrestre finished fourth with 1-3 record to play for the 9 to 16 positions.

Zamalek continued their clear sheet after they achieved the fourth consecutive win against Omni Sport 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-16). The victory awarded the top of the pool to Zamalek (4-0) while Omni Sport dropped to 0-4 to finish at the bottom of the pool.

Pool D

Algeria’s Bejaia crushed the relaxing El Guish team 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 27-25, 26-24) in a match determining the top of the pool after both teams secured their berths to the quarterfinal earlier on Tuesday. Bejaia led pool D with 4-0 record, while El Guish came second with 3-1.

Mwangaza of Congo RD waited till the last day of the first round to mark their first win against Manga Sport Club (Gabon) 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 27-25). Mwangaza ended the pool matches in the fourth position with 1-3 leaving Manga at the last position with 0-5.